It is common in underground coal mining to use a mining machine having one or more large rotatable cutting drums equipped with teeth that continuously scrape coal from the seam. The mining machine typically includes a chassis, a boom mounted on the chassis, a laterally elongated mining head mounted on the boom, and a conveyor to transport the removed coal from the seam. In some cases, the cutting drums can be laterally spaced apart from one another along the length of the mining head. The boom of the mining machine can include support flanges that fixedly carry the cutting drums during the operation of the mining machine.